McHenry girl recovering after hit-and-run; police still looking for driver

Morgan Cassidy (left), 10, of McHenry, is helping take care of her sister Lola, 7, who is still recovering after being hit by a driver last weekend who fled the scene. McHenry Police are still looking for the green sedan.

McHENRY - Rebecca Cassidy was driving to her McHenry home when she received the call no mother ever wants to hear.

Her daughter, Lola, 7, had been hit by a car while she was walking with her 10-year-old sister Morgan to a friend's house.

"My very first thought was that I didn't hear [Morgan] right," Cassidy said. "She was just screaming that Lola got hit … In the two minutes it took me to get there I honestly thought I was going to find Lola dead."

Lola was hit by what Morgan described as a dark-green sedan on the 4100 block of West Veterans Parkway on Saturday afternoon. Lola suffered a broken tibia, a concussion, and several other bruises and scrapes. She was released from the hospital with a cast from her ankle to her groin, and she returned to school for the first time Thursday.

The dark-green sedan fled and scene without stopping, and McHenry Police are still searching for the driver.

Cassidy said her daughters, who were also walking their dog Saturday afternoon, make the trek to their friend's house regularly and always call when they leave and arrive. When Morgan called, she assumed they had gotten home safe.

"I kept saying, 'What do you mean she got hit?' And then the phone disconnected," Cassidy said. "I tried calling back three times, and [Morgan] finally picks up again and she's just screaming."

When Cassidy arrived, some other drivers had pulled over to help the girls, and one person was calling 911. Cassidy said she can't wrap her head around how someone could hit a child and flee the scene, but said she is happy her daughter is alive.

"Obviously, we were grateful," she said. "It could have been a very, very different turnout."

Anyone with information with locating and identifying the driver is asked to call the McHenry Police Department at 815-363-2200 or the anonymous tipline at 815-363-2124.